Tire store owner already making plans to rebuild

Less than 24 hours after a Coolbaugh Township tire shop burned, its owner was planning how soon the structure could be demolished and replaced.

CHRIS REBER

Less than 24 hours after a Coolbaugh Township tire shop burned, its owner was planning how soon the structure could be demolished and replaced.

"They're ready to do the demo, our contractor is ready to build, we have the materials for another store that we're ready to start," Bill Williams, owner of Jack Williams Tire & Auto Service Centers, said Sunday.

The scene at Route 940 and Heath Lane was still busy Sunday morning.

Firefighters were still working to extinguish some smoldering tires that were trapped beneath the twisted metal of the building's collapsed roof.

State police Fire Marshal Jamison Sgarlat said investigating the scene could take more than a day, slowed by the fact that the collapsed roof had made access difficult.

Neighbors who missed the massive plume of black smoke from the building last night came to see what they heard and read about.

"It's a shame how many guys are out of work," neighbor James Vaccola said. "Maybe we'll get a bigger joint."

While he wasn't even allowed to enter the building yet, Bill Williams was making plans for the future of the site, one of 27 Jack Williams stores in northeast Pennsylvania.

Insurance representatives were due on the scene later Sunday.

Williams was confident that the building, the five customer cars lost in the fire, and all employee-owned tools would be covered.

"We have separate policies for tools for all our techs, because all those guys have 40-50 grand in a toolbox," Williams said.

State inspection stickers, which are stored in a safe, were already recovered from the building, he said. If they were lost, the company could have faced a fine from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

And Williams is already planning the demolition and rebuild.

The company will redirect materials from another proposed tire store for the rebuild. They use the same design for all its stores, so they could possibly reuse the footer from the burned-out building, he said.

He said he would even consider a temporary location on the busy 940 corridor, which has at least four other competing shops within about a half mile.

"As soon as we can tear it down, it's gone," Williams said of the building shell.

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